A form is a conversation

It’s common to think of a form as a vehicle for getting data from one source into a system or a process. But really, a form substitutes for a conversation. There was a time when someone who wanted to request services from a government could just find the right person, verbally describe their situation, and the person on the other side of the desk would do their best to answer the request. But that doesn’t scale, of course. So we came up with having people fill in forms to provide answers to questions, which these days, leads to entering that data into computer systems. 

In a world where we have to collect information directly from people so they can apply to register to vote (among other government services), there must be forms. Forms substitute for a conversation. Imagine if every voter came to your office to register and you asked them the questions verbally rather than having them fill out a form. What might you ask differently from what your form asks?

We have looked at this quite a bit, actually. (In fact, in workshops to redesign forms, we have people playing the role of the voter registration form. It’s hilarious and instructive at the same time.)

Forms take the place of face-to-face conversation

In the conversation that the form represents, there are two very different perspectives, two different sets of goals, and two very different sets of vocabulary. From the point of view of the person filling the form, they are constantly (though usually subconsciously) wondering, What are you asking me, really? 

People filling forms are wondering, as they do, What is the question asking me? How will my answer be used? Who is asking the question? What’s the risk of answering the question? 

If form fillers are asking that question, it is likely that your question isn’t clear.

Keep the conversation clear and easy

  • Be clear about the purpose of the form. Make sure the title reflects the purpose from the voter’s point of view.
  • Make sure that every voter can answer every question. People worry about leaving answers blank, even when it’s okay to do that. Show clearly on the form which fields are mandatory and which are optional.
  • Avoid double barreled questions. For example, don’t ask “Are you a citizen of the U.S. and a resident of <your state>?” This almost always happens on eligibility questions. Separate out the eligibility criteria into their own questions or bullets.

Design the conversation for the right context

Recently, we ran into a situation where in one context, asking the form filler if they were at least 16 years of age was exactly right. But in a different situation, in a different context, it didn’t make sense to ask whether the form filler was 16, because no one under 18 years of age would actually be in the context where the form was being filled out.

Let’s compare the situations: Someone registering to vote at the DMV, where they’re getting their first driver’s license versus someone in a polling place filling out a provisional ballot application form that gets used as voter registration, too.

As you’re designing a voter registration form (or any form!) think in terms of relationship, risk, and reward.

  • What’s the form filler’s relationship to your organization at that moment? Are they not registered? Already registered with your office? Have they already affiliated with a political party?
  • What’s the risk of asking the question wrong? And what are the costs of correcting problems? For example, the form might ask about previous name and address. You know that this is for you to find them in your database and run a change of address. But you don’t really want to say that on the form. There’s only so much room.  Because of that completion fetish we mentioned above, form fillers who have had the same name and address for decades are likely to fill out the field anyway. This makes needless work for them and for you.
  • What’s the best outcome if you get the question right? We like to look across the experience. So, if it’s easy for the voter to fill out the form and get the information right, they’re more likely to take part, trust your office, trust the system, and be engaged. That’s a lot to load onto a field on a form, but okay, for your side, you can, by asking exactly what you need to know in a way that voters can easily answer, solve problems that you have in your process.

Resources

Happy National Voter Registration Day from the team at the Center for Civic Design!
Keep up the good work.

This was originally published in our Civic Designing newsletter. Subscribe on Mailchimp to get election design tips delivered to your mailbox.

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  1. Now is the time to update your forms | Center for civic design